


Day 7: Forbidden

by airiustide



Series: Zutara Month 2017: Prompts [7]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Affairs, F/M, Forbidden Love, Sad Ending, Slavery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-09
Updated: 2017-12-09
Packaged: 2019-02-12 08:11:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,075
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12955032
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/airiustide/pseuds/airiustide
Summary: Zuko is captured and displayed as a prize for the Earth Kingdom after the Fire Nation royal family had been overthrown and executed.





	Day 7: Forbidden

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: the Last Airbender

There they were again. Scrutinizing him like some strange creature through the glass imprisonment he was kept in. His gold eyes narrowed at the passing faces of the Earth Kingdom nobles as they 'awed' and cringed at his features. He was the last of the royal family and one with gold eyes at that. There were tales told of how he and his family were descendants of dragons. Hence, their mysteriously beautiful eyes.

When the world became fed up with the 100-year war provoked by the Fire Nation, the remaining nations took a stand. Over throwing the Fire Lord and sentencing him and his daughter, Princess Azula, to their deaths. Zuko was found during his search for the Avatar and was caught and imprisoned. For five years he had been put on display. Encased in a prison filled with gifts and extravagant décor from nobles. No matter how good they treated him, from the food to the expensive gifts he's received, he was still a slave none the less.

Putting aside his family history, he was a rare sight to see these days. His pale skin, strong physique and long black hair attracted many viewers. The firebender's scar being the most famous of his showcase. Disappointment swelled in his chest only to be replaced by sheer anger.

His people were willing to give him up in order to protect themselves from the same fate as the royal family. Once he got word that the sages had signed over his life, after many attempts to escape, he gave up. No one had wanted him. Not his mother, nor father. Not even his own country.

Zuko felt empty. Unwanted. He would easily take his own life if it wasn't for a particular princess that visited him now and then.

Their first encounter was tense. She would bring him many gifts, complimenting him on his beauty, offering him delicious food and treats. He would scowl at her, disgusted with her attempt to be friendly. But as time went by and her one-sided conversations with him finally receivied attention, he yearned for her company.

Katara was married off to a nobleman in Ba Sing Sa when she was sixteen. Although he treated he well, she did not love him. He was a high official for the Earth King, having access to many things. One day, he had taken her to the palace museums where she had come across the Fire Nation man in his encased prison. It was wrong. Katara knew the Fire Nation royal family was horrible for their actions but it was unbelievably immoral for keeping one of them as though they were some sort of prize.

The waterbender's heart broke from the sight of his slumped form and tired eyes. Yet he was beautiful. Even with his scar. And so, she went out of her way, using her husband's privileges, to visit the young man. At first, the firebender was displeased but eventually opened up to her.

"Zuko?" Katara asked him one day. "Do you ever wish to be free?"

He sat silently, slowly chewing the pastries she had brought him, and averted his eyes. "Even if I did manage to escape, where would I go? My own nation sold me out and the others would turn me in as soon as they see my face. If you hadn't noticed, I don't exactly blend in."

Katara frowned. Tears pooling in her eyes. He didn't deserve this. What was worse is that there was nothing either of them could do. The waterbender brought her sleeve to her face to try and hide the hurt in her teary eyes.

Zuko sighed, pursing his lips and walked to the edge of his prison. "Do not cry, love." He said softly. "You are the reason I choose to breathe every day."

"Eventually…" Katara sobbed, trying to swallow the lump in her throat, "eventually my visits will become suspicious. We can't be together like this forever, Zuko!"

He smiled, placing his right hand on the glass. Katara mirrored him with her left. She was right. They had been seeing each other for two years. Sneaking into his prison to be with him. And she had borne him a son and was currently carrying another. He was lucky their first was not a firebender or born with his eyes. But either way, Katara had given him light in all the darkness that surrounded him.

Their affair would be scandalous and eventually come to light once their second was born. Katara had specified some symptoms that lead him to believe that this one was indeed, a firebender. "Even then, as long as I know you and our children are safe, I will be prepared for the consequences."

Those words did not sooth over his lover. They argued that night but eventually she had calmed down and promised to see him in a weeks' time.

Katara could not stand the separation, clinging onto their son for comfort. It wasn't fair, she cried to herself, it wasn't. The child in her belly will soon reveal her affair with the former prince. She hated this. She hated all of it and all she wanted to do right now was slowly sink away from reality until she felt nothing.

The waterbender recalled her firsts with the firebender. From the time his fingertips brushed the inside of her palm to the time his lips parted to meet the kiss she initiated. He set her soul ablaze and she knew no one in this lifetime, or next, could ever make her feel consumed with such passion. Katara's heart ached at the thought of never seeing her lover again.

Her one-year old's cooing brought her out of her stupor. They were both lying on her bed in the separate chambers Katara resided from her husband with her son snuggled up to her chest. Katara felt guilty for her thoughts. Her children would need her now more than ever. She couldn't think this way. As much as she wished there was a way for her and Zuko to be together, the world wouldn't allow it. Zuko would no doubt be punished for violating an official's wife and transferred to a different location. Katara would most likely be put under house arrest for betraying her husband. Indeed, the world was cruel. All she could do at this point, was hold on tight to the precious gifts her forbidden lover had given her.


End file.
